"so on the story goes..."

"Return to the West" - Wednesday, Dec. 22 2004

woke up n went to the PAC to write my last final, walked in at 0902 n couldn't find my section in PAC 11/12 (only saw PAC 1-10) & asked some lady w/ poor engrish where 11/12 was. she didn't know. MORON!! what do they pay you for?! finally figured out it was upstairs behind the balcony. after running around upstairs & across (u ppl know how messed up navigating around the PAC is) i finally sit down n write my final @ 0915. i was already filling in the scantron card by like 1015, but then i noticed a note saying not to use ANY pen at all on the scantron sheet. of course i know to fill in the lil a-b-c... bubbles w/ HB pencil, but i usu. write my name/student ID (whatever doesn't need to be scanned) in pen. having never seen a footnote warning me to not use ANY pen whatsoever on the card, i thought i'd double-check. (just in case u know...didn't want my test invalidated n have to do it AGAIN O_o) the proctor didn't have a clue, so she had to go check w/ the prof, n yup; the morons made me fill out a new one all in pencil. yeesh...good thing i'd only just started filling in the bubbles on the old one, but better safe than sorry.

(1020: exit PAC)

went home, made sure i was all packed up n ready to roll...


then it was time for dim sum @ Crystal Palace:


left for YYZ well in advance (around 0530) to make sure i wouldn't be late due to snow/ice/accidents on the highway, got there w/ plenty of time to spare.

checked in & had a quick bite to eat w/ Calla, JT & Eric, who watched through the doors laughing as i "beeped" my way through the metal detector/security (took me like 5 min. to get through). said it sounded like "jingle bells" when the guard waved the wand around me.

"heaven only knows..."

my flight was scheduled to leave @2145, i was all settled, sitting at the departure gate around 2100, everything was good. no lateness this time. but of course...DELAY! dammit...they kept making announcements every lie 45min. or so about our plane being either "in the air...de-icing...having landed...still in the air..."etc. until it finally arrived some time after 1200. >=[

finally got to board, by then this was 1230. and of course, they had to de-ice the plane again...

i'm thinking we're finally ready to go here...when the captain's voice comes on the speaker telling us we've passed YYZ's 1230 "curfew" for take-offs, meaning we weren't supposed to take off b/c it was too late. @#$%!? (lots of groaning/bickering on board) but he said not to worry, they just needed to get an approval # & we'd be on our way (whooosaaa...) but still, i mean if they'd known that getting an approval was pretty much guaranteed anway, couldn't we just take off & get the approval while we were en route, instead of sitting around waiting for a phone call & letting the plane start to freeze again? whatever happened to "shoot first, ask questions later?" uy...i should've just booked my flight for the 23rd n gone to Mak's xmas party instead.

(1255: takeoff)

Arrival - Thursday, Dec. 23 2004


(0300: arrive @ YVR)
got home around 0400, and who greets me enthusiastically? none other than...

SSsssseeeefutjai!!

went up to my room crashed until late afternoon. spent pretty much the rest of the day unpacking, sleeping, getting sick, cleaning...etc.

"the road of life will turn..."

this time round, xmas really hasn't seemed like xmas. lotsa stuff goin on, ppl busy, ppl sick, travel plans, etc. mom went w/ grandpa to buy 2 plots of land @ this funeral home in Surrey. i guess grandpa had been putting this off for the past few years, but i guess recent events prompted him to finally see to it that things were taken care of. seems quite out of place, me mentioning something as sombre as this during the holidays, but due to circumstances we have no control over, the time was right and i just thank God that everything worked out.

trying to keep a long story short; grandpa wanted a location in the "Christian" of the cemetery (i didn't even know they had it divided up like that), but all of those had already been spoken for. except for 5. but those 5 were single spots scattered throughout the section, not side-by-side. except for 2 of them. but of those 2 that were side-by-side, they found out that one had just recently been sold. but, the person helping them went to check the books just to make sure, and discovered that the plot that was supposedly sold had not been paid for yet, and that the payment that would guarantee that person the spot had been due on December 15. therefore, they had forfeited the space, and we were free to pay for both of them right then and there.

so that's how it happened that my grandpa was able to buy 2 spots side-by-side, in a nice location near the edge of the field, in a section with lots of greenery and a tree nearby, a spot that sat right on the border in between what i guess you'd call "normal" spaces, and the other more expensive plots; larger sections made for elaborate "shrines" i guess, usu. reserved for entire families/rich folk. those were the ones my parents jokingly called the "luxury penthouse suites".

Christmas Eve - Friday, Dec. 24 2004

spent the whole morning of waiting (for over 1hr) in the Dr.'s office to check out throat which was hurting pretty bad (even swallowing water sometimes felt like swallowing barbed wire). i didn't expect it to be so busy, but when i saw the doc he said it's actually his busiest day of the year. huh...go figure.

after that, went to visit Grandma @ Burnaby General hospital. first time i've seen her since i've been back, it was good to see her, make her laugh and hear her voice. my mom n her 2 sisters were there, and grandpa came w/ us too.

after going back home, i realized this was the first year i could recall where we didn't have a tree. but good 'ol pops managed to scrape one together while we were out this morning, picked up a few scraps here n there from around the yard...and voila:

took a quick nap, had a quick dinner, then it was off to church for the Christmas Eve service where they needed me to play violin. it was just me n grandpa this year, everyone else was too busy/tired i guess. drove him home afterwards, it was good to get to talk to him after being away for so long. i rmmbr when we used to share a room when i was little, and i always used to pull crazy pranks on him...poor guy. he was nice enough to not kill me haha, although i prbbly deserved a good ass-kickin' many times.

"a lesson we will learn..."

didn't wanna post this till after Christmas/the New Year, didn't wanna anyone to read it and have it put a damper on the holidays, but i guess this Christmas is definitely one i'll remember. not because of awesome presents, awesome food, parties, etc...but b/c of the different circumstances/emotions that surrounded me at home this year. stress, anxiety, frustration (and not b/c of Christmas shopping!), but in the end it was love, care & dedication that won out, w/ everyone coming together, making sacrifices to make things happen.

back when it happened, mary & joseph weren't running around doing last-minute shopping, or slaving away to make a Christmas feast, they were desperately trying to find a room, or even just a spot in a small humble town for mary to have her child.

they didn't care about presents, shopping, giftwrapping...had no worldly comforts or luxury either. just a stable, some hay in a manger, and the gift of Christ. i think it did me well to have none of that stuff (busy xmas shopping/gifts) this year either...(also saves me the trouble of having to clean up all the giftwrapping paper after it's been torn open). nobody in our family wrapped anything; just a few red pockets in the spirit of the season, only gifts that were bought were the ones me n my sister gave to our 2 cousins, n the ones i bought for her in 'Loo, which i didn't even bother wrapping this time, they were still in my duffel bag.

Christmas Day - Saturday, December 25 2004

drove mom n pop to YVR so they could catch their flight to HK, they were going back for a relative's wedding, sat n had some Starbuck's in the airport foodcourt while we waited. later that day got a Merry Xmas call from burgerz & found out that dinner @ Kyle's had been moved to tomorrow night (i originally thought i couldn't go b/c it'd been set for the 24th before), so woohoo! too bad my throat still kills. this is like ultimate torture; Christmas food all around me, i'm lazy and wanting to eat out/junkfood, but i can't b/c even congee makes my throat kill. =(

Boxing Day - Sunday, December 26 2004

went to Carol's church (VCBC) in the morning. bumped into Brian (the UW "Cookie Monster") there too, he's headed back to Waterloo on the 27th. service was cool, no sunday school this week though, so i went home after and....i can't remember. prbbly went back to sleep. and ate lunch. or the other way around...nyeh doesn't matter. whatever i did, i prbbly can't rmmbr b/c it pales in comparison to the night's events:
Turkey Dinner @ Kyle's


New Year's Eve - Friday, December 31 2004

last few days went by pretty uneventfully, finally got out of the house yesterday n did some swimming. i swear i've been too inactive since i got back, i seriously think i nearly passed out after a while when i was walking on deck cuz i pushed myself a little too hard in the pool. uy...O_o neway, after that just walked Richmond Centre w/ mr. Gee for a bit & found bargain: got a t-shirt for $7.99, $9.11 after tax! oooh...then we picked up burgerz n headed over to Metro, Sushi Garden after that, then we met up w/ a couple girls to catch National Treasure. not a bad flick, interesting storyline, a bit boring at times though.

"and no one knows but fate how we'll end..."

so yeah...another year over. tonight's fate has been decided: Plush. i was feelin' like having a more mellow/quiet night home, (didn't want a repeat of last year's "purse-snatcher" incident) but it should be interesting i guess. 2004 was...the end of the "Waterloo Era" (i hope) =P started w/ a bang (literally) in 2002 which was a year of healing & rebirth/rebuilding, new beginnings i guess...then 2003 felt a bit more consistent, although it had its own share of changes, but still felt a little bit more settled (although there was another accident), n then 2004: a mixed bag of joy, pain, blessings & hardships...and getting hit by another car. it was good i guess, i can say i went 3-for-3! but let's not do it again. sorta worries me a bit now that i think about it some more...hope 2005 deviates from this pattern. i can say for sure that i know these past few years have changed my outlook on life, & changed how i live it accordingly. (that's a good thing)

enough outta me, so...Happy New Year everyone, Let's hope it's Make it a good one. i'm home again.

the beginning of the end... - Tuesday, December 21 2004

looks like this will be m last "broadcast" from apt. 609 up in Waterloo Towers. funny how it doesn't seem like that long ago that i was leaving Vancouver on a jet plane headed for TO...

...and a lot's happened since then.

almost 4 months have gone by, yet i still recall the night i arrived like it was just yesterday: on a warm dark night, w/ weary mind & body i dragged all my belongings into the lobby where i sat & waited for JT to come home w/ the keys so i could get into the apartment. waited there for over an hour i think, even moved all my bags upstairs in front of the apartment door, just cuz i got bored. then i had to go & mark my territory in the bushes by the building entrance (fitting i think, since it was my final term).

the term was great. the best of all my 5 terms here @ UW. JT, Cassandra, u guys are awesome housemates. sorry if i scared u sometimes w/ my enthusiasm for cooking/eating/food, but i'm glad i was able to live w/ u guys in such a clean place that was so CLOSE to the school. thx to the Westcourt crew for letting me borrow (crash and lose) a bike. =P and to everyone else, i guess i never mentioned it the "other" time, but i'll make up for it here: thanks to everyone i've met out here these past few years, u guys are all awesome. you all get the "Nip of Approval": (.)

whether it was playing sports (vball/tennis/swimming), going through times of stress (Lifesong/exams), or just having a good time (sharing/chilling/EATing), i really do feel blessed to have been able to share life w/ u guys & i hope everyone continues making the most of theirs, wherever they are. i'll definitely miss the free sauna/pool/weightroom/tennis too...felt like a free membership to a health club (a pretty ghetto one, but still it was free!). having been brought here against my will, and experienced things i would have never sought after on my own, Waterloo has definitely earned a special place in my heart. still one thing bothers me though: i'll still never understand how UW ppl can spend 12+ hours studying. i can't get over that. all it takes is 2 hours of straight reading to send me on my way home w/ a dizzy head and/or rumbling stomache. speaking of food btw...

the Last Supper:


so where do i go from here? no clue. i've got some temp work for Dec. 29th & 30th already, & a few other gigs will probably come my way in the near future @ BCIT, but all that really doesn't mean much. sure i've planned a few things here n there; places i'd like to go, things i'd like to do...but if i've learned anything over the past 3 years it's not to think of my own plans as if they were set in stone. because they aren't. they usually never are. in fact, they're more like the dots that are scattered all over the page in those "connect-the-dots" puzzles. u know, the ones where u start at dot #1, then look for #2, then #3 etc...until you finally draw some sort of picture.

yeah it's kinda like that, except on my page the dots don't have numbers...and maybe not every single dot that i put on the page will be used to create that final picture. some dots seem more essential than others right now, but who knows whether they'll be connected to the rest, and other dots that seem insignificant may hold greater value than i could ever imagine. those dotsmay even appear and disappear at random sometimes, and possibly (just maybe) there are a few dots that will be shared with someone else as well. certain point(s) in my life of "dots" that will connect to the outline of someone else's. maybe. all i know for sure is that i've gotta let go of the pen & stop trying so hard to connect them my way. let it go, and trust (and pray) that He'll reveal to me the design of my life that He's intended, in His time. walking home from school tonight @ 0100 after a final "hardcore" (2.5hr) study session @ the SLC i looked up @ the sky trying to find the moon, and i couldn't. guess it was covered by clouds or something, but it didn't matter - i knew it was there. just like the future that i may not be able to see clearly @ times, someone wiser than me controls it, and knowing that puts me good hands.

there is one particular dot that i can see out there in the future from where i am today...& it looks like the lil bugger has something to do w/ the east coast, or something like that. huh...so perhaps the east coast hasn't seen the last of the Nipple after all. but for now, i'm not even gonna worry about when/if this dot gets a line drawn through it or not. because all i know is that i'm heading home...
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uy...too much to say, too little time/brainpower. i have a final in 6.5 hours for cryin' out loud! alright. enough of this sappy stuff. new adventures await! (look out u lazy seefutjai...i'm coming home to take u for a walk!)

stay tuned...

one last excursion... - Monday, December 20 2004

aah...my walls are bare now as i sit and stare around me at the 4 panels that made up my room this past term. painstakingly took down all my posters last night...started packing in earnest now too since there's not too much time left anymore. one last look @ this turtle's den...






went on one last trip through Uptown Waterloo before dinner tonight, just for old time's sake n for one last look @ Christmas in K-W:

(click the pic)

came home to cook dinner afterwards n all of a sudden i realized i was down to the last one. the FINAL one. did i save the best for last? well, i dunno about the "best", it's been a while since i last encountered one, but it was still good:
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ooohh yess...it was very good. =P

weekend detour...& missing my seefutjai - Saturday & Sunday, December 18/19 2004

Saturday
woke up @ 0800...too damn early! went back to bed. "re-woke" @ 1030, dragged myself off into the kitchen to have breakfast & pack lunch, then headed to the gym @ school. had lunch on campus, then headed home n finally started doing some packing while i waited for eric n johnny to come pick me up to head to eric's house in Brampton for dinner. or was it Brantford? no, it was Brampton. bloody ontario city names...

got into Brampton around 1900 & had a good homecooked meal w/ johnny, lue & eric @ eric's place. met his parents, some CCF old timers were there too (Janey, Alfred, eric's older sister janice n her b/f denny). had a nice quiet night just chillin' w/ everyone, played some violin for the 1st time in over 6 months too. eric dug out his old violin & got me to play the 1st movement from this old chinese classic called the "Butterfly Lover's Concerto". lil rusty, but i don't think i mangled the piece that badly... violin had a really nice tone too. german make. his dad said they got a good deal on it b/c the neck was slightly crooked, just off 90degrees. fitting that the bdb should play on a "handicapped" violin i guess. finally got some rest n crashed for the night on their living room floor @ around 0300

Sunday
woke up n had some quick breakfast then headed to braemley (sp?) baptist church for their early service @ 0900. that was cool, then we headed to YYZ to drop off johnny for his flight home to B.C. then it was just me, eric n lue n we took a scenic drive around TO for a bit. saw a bit of Lake Ontario via Lakeshore drive, wish i had my camera handy for that, clouds were low & the sun sparkling on the water looked pretty cool, scenery almost worthy of Beautiful B.C. =P then we decided to hit up eaton centre in d/t TO to walk around n have lunch. spotted n said hi to the "ice maidens" doing their giftwrapping gig while we were there too. went back to eric's around 1600, then finally hitched a ride back into 'Loo w/ denny n janice.

just finished dinner now, n just sittin' here thinking about how it'll be like back home this holiday season. it'll be different for sure...got notice from BCIT that they got a couple days of work for me already @ the end of december, n mom n pops are heading to HK on xmas day this year to catch my dad's nephew's wedding. i opted out this time since i think it'd just be a lil too hectic taking off again so fast. so i guess i'll still be having to cook for myself a lil while longer...hope they leave the fridge nicely stocked! uy...let's hope i'll still be able to find time to relax.

finally, most of all, i can't wait to see my seefutjai! i miss that ugly little mutt; the chickensh*t dog w/ crooked teeth who's scared of rabbits/squirrels/etc. (any other animal that moves basically), the ugly little hairball who tries to jump onto my bed in the mornings but can't anymore b/c she's gotten too fat b/c she's too lazy to go for walks unless i threaten her w/ a robotic stuffed dog toy that plays "singing in the rain"...aaahh bobo, i've missed you! thank goodness for msn though i guess, even though i was extremely reluctant when my mom discovered this new technology for keeping in touch (aka new method of sticking her nose into my business). yeah that's right, my mom hunted me down on msn. it can get pretty annoying at times:


ma: what do you mean you don't study 5 hours a day?!

but i guess it's not so bad if it can make her happy...


ma: ooh! you packed two sandwiches for lunch today? that's wonderful! good for you!

and being able to see the ugly lil black hairball makes it all worthwhile:



my sister's home for the holidays from UNBC now too, so i can see seefutjai even more now:



i even got to talk to the mangy mongrel on the phone the other day too:


me: c'mon now, don't you remember what i said about attacking the mailman? first you bite, THEN twist!

oh man, the winter has finally arrived too. so bloody cold (-21!) to be walking instead of biking now, just got back inside from taking out the trash. i started boiling some eggs before i went out, came back inside n my fingers were so damn numb that i dipped 'em in the boiling water for a full 5 seconds before i felt anything. uy...tired now...next few days will consist of packing/cleaning up my room and finishing off the meat in the freezer. o yeah, i guess there'll be some studying for my last final in there too...but don't worry bobo, wutdutjai & seefutjai shall be reunited soon enough!


xmas 2001

quick notes...Thursday, December 16 2004

so yeah, i was @ Conestoga today & had to go take a leak. there were a bunch of ppl walking in @ the same time, n i'm heading towards the urinals (which oddly enough, are placed right next to the entrance). there's 3: a "kiddy" one on the left, and 2 regular ones to the right of it. the one on the far right was occupied. the guy in front of me starts walking towards the kiddy/shorter one, then steers towards the middle one, but then the guy who was already there like spits/says something to himself, n the new guy does an about-face n decides to stick to a stall instead. i'm thinking: "err...ok, so he just changed his mind to a #2 that's all..." so anyway, i decide to park in the middle stall which was right in front of me anyway. i don't see that as breaking the "code" which i've been told of many times. however, i started to get the feeling that the guy before me had chosen a stall not because of a sudden bowel movement, but b/c of the amount of movement the guy to my right was making! iono, i think he might've been gimped or something, but iono, he just kept makin' a lotta noise (snorting, spitting, etc.), and to top it all off, he chuckles to himself n then turns to me n says "aw man, that's what a cup 'o coffee'll do to ya!" this normally wouldn't have been that funny to me, but at this point some memories of funny conversations this term regarding bathroom etiquette were running through my head and i had no control over myself when i smirked in response and said "yeah man, that stuff'll just go right through you..."

so yyeeeaaaaah anyway...

after Conestoga i decided to take one more trip into Downtown Kitchener via the #7 bus (can't bike anymore b/c someone STOLE it!). so i get down there n i'm walkin' down King st. just a bit past Kitchener City Hall, and who do i see? none other than the skin-etching entrepreneur himself...mr. Lobo (click here to read about my first encounter w/ Lobo). he was walking his dog/wolf, w/ his cowboy boots & hat...dude's like a character from out of Bonanza or somethin' w/ that knife he's always got strapped on to his waist too. neway, he seemed to recognize me, always happy to talk to someone who hails from the West Coast which he holds in such high regard from his visits to there long ago. told me to look for his shop (Werewolf Skin Designs) when he retires out West in the Okanagan in the next year or so. gotta hand it to him, the guy's got taste.

Lobo posing w/ his "puppy"

lastly, but certainly not least, i bought the first xmas present of the season. yes mui, you should be happy and honoured that yours (yes YOURS!) was the first thing i picked up this year. i hope it fits though, i've always tried to stay away from buying clothes for girls unless i have a girl w/ me for advice, but this time i was stuck, clueless on my own. nyeh too bad.


Christmas in Kitchener

the vindicator - Thursday, December 16 2004

whooooosaaaaa....man i really need to calm down right now. because i'm nervous about exams? nah. because i don't have food? nah, i just had about 10 chicken nuggets as a midnight snack. no, my hands are shakey because i have an urge to ring someone's neck right about now. i can't wait to get home & walk into craftsman collision and give the manager a piece of my mind and walk home w/ a chunk of his flesh in my hand. ok...maybe not the chunk of flesh, that's kinda gross.

but yeah, i just received word from ICBC that they have no record of a deductible being taken from us regarding the accident last summer where i was hit, and that they paid the shop for the full amount of repairing the courtesy car.
(background: our car was in the shop, i was driving a courtesy when i got hit, we took the smashed up courtesy back, they made us pay before they gave us our own car back)
soo...that basically means mr. craftsman pocketed our money since ICBC says their records show that they covered the shop's costs for the repair. ooooh...haaatututut...that doesn't sit too well with me. however, ICBC just said that they don't have any record, and because of that they can't reimburse me for the money that was taken, and that i'll just have to bring the receipt to the shop and ask for a refund. i don't really like confrontation. well, ok maybe a little. but only when necessary, and only when i know i'm justified. i've never met the guy yet, my mom was the one who dealt w/ him & from what she tells me he was totally condescending towards her & just made her feel totally terrible about the whole thing. now i have something else to look forward to when i get home for xmas. well hopefully mr. craftsman treats me nice & just gives the money back with his deepest apologies, or else mark my words...
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somebody gonna get hurt...
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SOMEbody...
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REAL bad...

overachievers - Sunday, December 2004

i seriously don't understand how people here can spend entire days studying?! it boggles my mind...(which goes to prove just how fragile it is i guess) i just came back from spending 3.5hrs (2130-0100@ DC, studying for my MUSIC 245 final coming up on wednesday. seriously...no wonder waterloo has a reputation for brainiacs. i've never seen such a studious institution in my life (and this is my 3rd one). i bumped into some ppl who told me they'd been there for 12+hrs today! O_o

well, to be fair, i guess not everyone was studying as hard as it seemed. even w/ earplugs jammed in my ear, i couldn't help overhearing the 2 girls at the table across from me discussing their latest nailpolish application techniques, the noisy hongers/FOBS cackling away in the background, and there was some dude playing some RPG on his laptop too. uy...well i guess maybe i'm just too smart. i don't require such long hours of intense academic activity to prepare for my exams. errr, then again...maybe that's not it either...

anyway, props to UW for providing the students w/ such a great campus to study on i guess. if u don't like the "ambient noise" of DC you've got plent of other places to go too; SLC (3rd floor, 2nd floor), DP, Career Services (ur secret's out Alex!), ES Lounge, ML Lounge, or any of the classrooms that are open 24hrs.

a few snapshots:


exam time @ the PAC


the Student Life Centre by night


Dana Porter library by night


study junkies inside the Davis Centre library
(@ 0100 on Sunday night!)

well, at least Christmas is almost here. funny how this time of year always seems to make people feel all sorts of different things: happy/cheerful, lonely/melancholy, excited/anxious, to name a few...generosity is definitely in there too. in fact, i was feeling pretty generous myself this evening. SO generous in fact, that i decided to give the gift of STEAK:


i think i've been a good boy this year...


hohoho...


MERRRRY xmas!!


*...do u see what i see?...*

ahem. ok i'll stop. i think i'm having too much fun w/ this one. =P good luck w/ finals everyone!

slow-motion - Wednesday, December 8 2004

i've always loved being able to bike around waterloo because it made everything so much faster. wanna go buy groceries? 10min. !bam! = Sobeys. mall? 15min. !bam! = Conestoga. downtown? 10min. !bam! so imagine my dismay when i walked out the back door of my building promptly @ 1130 this morning to hop on my bike so i could take the 5min. ride to school n go for a swim and...o_O??!!? it wasn't there??! doh! at first i thought it was prbbly at school, since i sometimes just leave it there and walk home (since i'm so close now). so i walk to school, check out the spots where i usually lock it up...nope. doh! uyy...i'd always thought of my 2-wheeled transportation as my livelihood here...and now it was gone. argh...so i still went for my swim, n walked home. well, on the bright side of things, at least it's the end of the term & i wouldn't have used it that much longer anyway. walking's better exercise than just cruising on a bike, and i got to just slow everything down a bit as i went for a random walk through Uptown waterloo. you get more time to observe things when ur not riding by so fast i guess.

went to the new L&M (formerly Carpenter's Music shop) n got to try out the Warlock:

looks crazy, sounds crazy, but w/ the right amp u can still make it sound clean & play some mellow tunes, i was lovin' it! i think i'm gonna hafta get me one 'o these babies!

as i was cuttin' through waterloo park on the way home for dinner, i realized i was in the middle of a playing field. memories of cold n wet rugby practices came to mind as i plodded along; watching muddy-brown water well up around my shoe with each step i took through the soggy grass. aah rugby...i guess i sorta miss hitting people, u know? like slamming into them, or bringing 'em down hard so that they get the wind knocked out of 'em? and sometimes they lie there and can't move for a few seconds, or maybe even cry?? >=] muahahaha... whoops, i think that's the Warlock talkin...lol

the Nipple walks... - Thursday, December 9 2004

uy...just got home after walking around waterloo for 3.5hrs. went to the gym in the morning, then to SLC where i studied for a grand total of 30min. before giving in to my stomache and taking an extended lunch. hobbled on over to dollarama via that beaten path i used to bike through everyday in 1st year, got some packing tape for the boxes of junk i'll be shipping home, then ambled along north to Chapters/Starbucks, looked to see if i could find ne good deals @ National Sport Depot (couldn't), then sauntered back south along King until i felt like some congee, n decided it was time to visit China Garden & have a nice big bowl of "juk" for dinner. guess it's a good thing i'm doin' all this walking, since i've gotten lazy n stopped doing cardio/running @ the gym. good thing i got my music to keep me company while walking too, otherwise i'd be bored to death. u ppl sick of studying? go for a walk...n i don't mean no lil stroll down the block, go for a real walk. go somewhere until you get lost, and then try finding your way back. do it. just make sure u pack some snacks along for the journey. =P

some good news (FINALLY!) - Monday, December 6 2004

whoooosaaa....it's OVER! at least almost anyway. got through the last day of class. finished off by watching Fahrenheit 9/11 in night class. what a note to end the term off on eh? handed in my "garbage" essay, nyeh, suitable for a garbage course. sooo glad it's almost over with.

on an even more positive note, i got an unexpected call from ICBC today regarding my other accident involving getting hit by a car last summer. (actually, it was a giant pickup truck, but hey who cares about details right?) even though it was totally the other guy's fault (he had a heart attack) i'd ended up being stuck with paying the deductible for my vehicle anyway, and despite my protests they'd made it seem like there was nothing i could do about it and that the case was closed. well, after over a year of paperwork which i didn't know about, they've decided not to shaft me, and there's a good possibility that deductible will be refunded. i'm keeping my fingers crossed though...just in case. in any event, I just thank God that this mess is turning out ok.

as for finals now? nyeh...again that's just details. i'm almost free! i think i'm gonna really try n just enjoy the next few days...wake up late, eat lots, go swimming (for free!) and go to they gym (for free!), go on some more "excursions" and soak up the rest of this extended student life i've been enjoying for the last 4 months. *sigh*...aah waterloo, it's been a love-hate relationship...but i think in the end i will miss you. more later...

relaxation... - Tuesday, December 7 2004

i prbbly shouldn't be posting this, as some readers may become extremely jealous and envious, perhaps even violent at the fact that i'm enjoying myself & taking it easy while they're stuck cramming for exams n stuff...but nyeh, too bad!

started the day of tardy; opened my eyes @ around 0845, was planning to go to the gym by 1130, but decided to stay in bed for an extra 30min...end up waking up 1245. bum around, eat breakfast, pack "lunch", marinate my chicken for dinner n go to the gym from around 1500-1600, RELAX after w/ a nice SHOWER & read the paper in the SAUNA for a while...aaahh...then i go eat n chill in the SLC, watch some ppl swing dancing n breaking downstairs in front of the Cove, got a free sample of Red Bull that eric told me not to drink cuz it might cause brain tumors, glanced over my notes for a bit before deciding it's still too early to study n went home to cook dinner. aah...i gotta savour this lifestyle while i still can...


mmm...baked honey garlic chicken...

ghettosuperstar - Saturday, December 4 2004

almost done this retarded history research project for my bogus HIST 200 course...kinda funny; the project is on teenage/high school violence & how society deals with/reacts to it...and all i can think about is different ways to painfully kill the course's poor excuse for a prof. nyeh...this has gotta be one of the bigggest pieces of garbage i've written...but no matter, it's almost done!

welp, since i'm graduating (again), i feel i should leave some sort of advice for the froshies, 2nd years, etc. so i thought i'd encourage them to make the most of what little they may have to live with as students. hopefully this little collection of snapshots from my peasant life here in waterloo will inspire some, and instill in them the confidence that YOU TOO can become...
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a *GHETTO-SUPERSTAR*!!

jipped...

it's nearing the end of term, the end of my university career...(again!) =P with only 2 finals, i'm pretty relaxed about everything actually, doing pretty well in 2 of my courses, confident i'll do ok in the third, but it's the fourth...that damn HIST 200 that's a sorry excuse for a university course that's pissing me off. >=[ not a happy man. last 2 assignments due in the coming week for that course, with a combined value of 55%, i can't express how much i've hated and resented this course. of all the courses i picked for this term, this was the one that i thought would be easy/fun for SURE. everyone that'd taken it in the past recommended it, said it was fun and easy. well LUCKY ME eh? whaddya know, starting this term the history department decided to change the friggin' course b/c the old instructor retired, decided to put someone else in charge who decided stick a more "academic" twist on it, and also injected a whole lotta other crap in there that i don't wanna get into. she just bloody sucks and can't teach worth vegetarian pork. "haaaaa...tutututut..." that's the stress-relief technique my buddy ed made up back in highschool. don't think it's gonna do me any good here. i haven't learned jack all in this course. i feel so cheated, especially since i didn't really have a choice in that some other courses that really sounded interesting like Voice Technique weren't offered this term. retarded. i mean, i just need these damn courses to graduate right, and i'm willing to take 'em, but it just won't work for me that way will it?

procrastination = eating now. i start trying to work on my research essay, get lost/stuck because i'm out of energy trying to come up with something from nothing...so i got make dinner. back to work...get bored again, go pack lunch for tomorrow. really into work-mode now...but again the retardedness of it all gets to me and i have to have a "snack". yeesh...k i'm just ranting now. i know, i'll go take a walk. i did that a few nights ago n it was nice. there's a park not far from here too...a nice peaceful little Escape:

not me! - Saturday, November 27 2004

i think i have some sort of gravitational pull towards MVA's (Motor Vehicle Accidents). it stopped raining/snowing today so i decided to go on another excursion; biked around up to Chapters, hit up Conestoga, then headed south down King street towards home.

so i'm biking along (down the left side of the road, going against north-bound traffic), the traffic on my right is pretty much at a stand-still, and i'm humming to myself, daydreaming about what to do with the 4 pieces of chicken marinating in the fridge, when the (now familiar) sound of screeching tires cuts through the air, and i look up to see the driver of a yellow Protege5 trying to brake in vain, and then...!BAM!...shatterd glass and debris flies through the air over my handlebars, and sprinkles itself all over the pavement (also familiar).

good thing i was biking on the sidewalk this time.

the traffic to my right had been just inching along, and i was just passing this pickup truck (just a meter away to my right) when the P5 driver, not paying attention to the flow i guess, slammed into it. glad that it wasn't me this time, i almost wanted to point and just go "you...You...YOU! not me, YOU!" (i think i've been around those 'noobs' Mike n G too much this term) but i thought that'd be mean. so i didn't do that.

i get off my bike just to see if anyone could use any help/witnesses or anything like that, but nobody seems to be injured. i find out there's actually 3 cars involved; the yellow P5, the pickup, and the car in front of the pickup. i thought that guy had stopped just to see if he could help/act as a witness, but i took a closer look at his rear bumper and i could see the plate # of the pickup imprinted on it. the force of the P5 must've shoved the pickup into the sedan. now it just so happens a cop car was driving in the other direction, so it stops and turns its lights on to redirect traffic, so now the situation's really under control. plenty of witnesses, no injuries (the lady driving the P5 started crying though, dumbass...it was her fault to begin with?!), and they even have an officer now to oversee the proceedings. yeesh...where were the cops when I got hit? stoobud lady...causes an accident, starts bawling. they called an ambulance n firetruck to the scene too...haai...shouldn't they have better things to do?

anyway...

so i got hungry again...but since i'd already downed a mozza burger @ the mall, instead of bustin' out the chicken fingers or fish sticks (w/ supplementary plum or tartar sauce) this time, i thought i'd try a healthier alternative & eat some of the ruby red grapefruit i got from Sobeys the other day, which were on sale for 69cents each!

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*new* :picture of the moment: